Bhubaneswar: Fear loomed in the crowded maze of lanes in Odisha’s Cuttack after the mutilated bodies of three homeless men were recovered from different locations in a span of 24 hours. The police believe the brutal murders are the handiwork of a "psycho killer" targeting homeless people sleeping on the streets.
While the hacked body of a middle-aged man was recovered in Ranihat area of Cuttack on Tuesday morning, two more bodies with similar injuries were recovered in Chauliaganj and Mangalabag areas on Wednesday morning.
“These three murders seem to have been committed by the same person. The wounds on the three bodies appear to have been inflicted by a similar weapon. I think the three murders were committed after midnight, before 2am or 3am, when generally nobody is awake,” said the twin-city police commissioner Satyajit Mohanty.
A sharp and heavy weapon seems to have been used to murder the victims. There were several cut marks on their bodies, said police officials.
“In each of these three cases, it seems the homeless people sleeping on the pavement have been targeted. Considering the nature of the murders, we can say this is the work of a psycho killer,” Mohanty said.
While the murderer appears to have left almost no clues at the crime scenes, Mohanty said investigators are gathering evidence that will help nab the accused. “Crimes committed by psychopaths or serial killers are always challenging for the police,” he added.
In the Ranihat incident, local residents identified the deceased as a homeless daily-wage labourer named Kalia, who hailed from the neighbouring Dhenkanal district. “He was about 50 years old and used to earn his living from manual work. He had been unable to work for the past few days after developing a painful swelling in his feet,” said Rajendra Kumar Sahu, a local resident.
The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Police also plans to take several steps to help prevent more such murders.
“To protect the homeless people in Cuttack, we plan to take a few more initiatives like spreading awareness about the dangers those sleeping in the open may face. If possible, we will try to bring all homeless people to one place where they can sleep for the night in the presence of policemen,” said Mohanty.
The police have also urged social organisations such as clubs, residents’ welfare associations and 'puja' committees in the district to provide them with young volunteers who will help in the initiatives to guard the homeless.
On July 1, the mutilated body of an unidentified man was recovered in the Link Road area of Cuttack. There has been no headway in the probe into that murder. Police officials say it is possible that it was the work of the same person who committed the fresh set of murders.
(With inputs from Navesa Mohanty and Joy Mohanty)
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